STUDY UNIT 6(1)

STUDY UNIT 6
LEGAL WRITING IN TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS
At the end of this study unit you must be able to:
Describe what different assessment questions require.
Answer test and examination questions with success and insight.
DIFFERENT QUESTIONS, DIFFERENT ANSWERS
Assessors do not simply use random verbs in assessments. “Describe” requires a
different answer from “compare” and “name”.
NB! STUDY:
Study the following extract from Kok, Nienaber and Viljoen1 on answering test and
examination questions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
KOK, A; NIENABER, A and VILJOEN, F
2011. Skills workbook for law students. 2nd Ed. Claremont:Juta Publishers.
1
2011:13-20.
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
LEGAL WRITING IN ASSESSMENTS
Your legal writing skills should not be turned off just because you are answering
questions in a test or examination. You will do well to remember the following in tests
and examinations:
Rules of clarity, conciseness and engagement apply in assessments too!
Answers in tests and examinations must be as clear, concise and engaging as
any of your legal writing products.
Consider your audience and purpose for writing
Just as in any legal writing product, write for you audience and write with a
purpose. Your audience in assessment opportunities are lecturers with the
objective of determining whether you understand and know the work that has
been dealt with over the course of a semester.
The purpose of writing will be formulated in accordance with the specific
question. For example, should the question read: Name the requirements for a
valid contract, you will probably not be expected to compare legal systems or
motivate an answer. However, if the question gave you a set of facts and
requested you to critically evaluate, your answer will most likely aim to persuade
and you should structure your writing accordingly.
SPELLING!
Spelling mistakes in tests and examinations are as unprofessional as it is in
practice.
SMS LANGUAGE!
Avoid using SMS vernacular altogether. You will not obtain marks for answers
given in SMS language.
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
Paragraphs, paragraphs, paragraphs
Frequently, students answer questions in tests in proper paragraphs, but when it
comes to the examinations, they write one long paragraph. This is unprofessional
and does very little to ease the sometimes tedious task of marking papers.
Headings
Headings, along with proper paragraphing, can give structure to your answers if
used wisely.
Repetition does not duplicate marks
Restating a fact will not win you another mark, even if you reformulated the fact
into different words. It merely points to the fact that you do not know what the rest
of the answer entails.
Logical reasoning
Some assessment questions will require you to reason. It is not appropriate to
regurgitate everything that you have memorised on a specific topic. You should
integrate the knowledge that is required for the answer and exclude that which
will render your answer excessive.
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
ANNEXURE A – DECLARATION OF OWN WORK
The pages that follow must be completed and submitted with assignments.
The forms may be attached to the back of assignments.
No assignment will be accepted without these forms.
Where any student is unaware what plagiarism is and unsure how to complete the form,
the burden rests upon that student to contact the lecturer immediately to receive
guidance in this regard.
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
RPK 214 ASSIGNMENT
FACULTY OF LAW, UFS
DECLARATION OF OWN WORK
Student number:
Surname and initials:
Programme and department:
Name of module:
Lecturer:
Code of course:
Assignment NO (encircle):
Date of submission:
2
1
0
1
2
M
Declaration of own work
2
M
3
D
4
D
Tick
I hereby declare that I know and understand what plagiarism is
I hereby declare that this assignment handed in by me to the Faculty of Law, was completed by
myself, independent of any other person and that it has not previously been submitted for
purposes of obtaining of credits or a qualification by myself or any other person. Furthermore, I
declare that I revealed all sources employed in appropriate footnotes. I also did not allow any
other person to copy my work for the purposes of presenting it as their own.
______________________________
Signature of student
___________________
Date
UFS 2012
RPK 214 – Part B
Legal Writing
RPK 214 ASSIGNMENT
FACULTY OF LAW, UFS
DECLARATION OF OWN WORK
Student number:
Surname and initials:
Programme and department:
Name of module:
Lecturer:
Code of course:
Assignment NO (encircle):
Date of submission:
2
1
0
1
2
M
Declaration of own work
2
M
3
D
4
D
Tick
I hereby declare that I know and understand what plagiarism is
I hereby declare that this assignment handed in by me to the Faculty of Law, was completed by
myself, independent of any other person and that it has not previously been submitted for
purposes of obtaining of credits or a qualification by myself or any other person. Furthermore, I
declare that I revealed all sources employed in appropriate footnotes. I also did not allow any
other person to copy my work for the purposes of presenting it as their own.
______________________________
Signature of student
___________________
Date

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